Balatoni Monika, Chair of the Human Rights Working Group, Minister of State for Public Diplomacy and Relations:
"History is the echo of the past in the future. The tragic fate of the twentieth century conveys with elementary force the message that the value of human life and liberty may never again be neglected. The atrocities of the Holocaust and the communist dictatorships prove that ´the non-recognition of human rights and the disregard of the conscience of mankind has triggered agitatedly barbarous acts` (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). Consequently, fundamental human rights and freedoms, minority rights sustainable development and the basic values of peace and security must be fought for with all possible means - as Chair of the Human Rights Working Group one of my main goals is for my work to become an integral part of this fight. I hope that the Working Group's operations - both short and long term - effectively contribute to the realization of human rights within the domestic as well as the European sphere."
Dr. Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Public Administration and Justice:
„Many aspects supporting human rights have been achieved in the past years, such as the prohibition of human trafficking and child labour, the protection of the rights of people with disabilities or the reinforcement of parliamentary rights of national minorities.
One issue of personal importance to me is the protection of children, and the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice has declared 2012 the year of child-friendly justice. My enthusiasm for promoting the rights of children extends not only to legislation, but also to practicalities such as a child-centred approach to judicial procedure, with improved interview facilities, and communication of the justice system’s workings in child-friendly language. This is aimed at reducing children’s anxieties when in contact with the judiciary.”
Zoltán Balog, Hungarian Minister of Human Resources:
”Human rights do not exist because at some point in time legislators, politicians or philosophers decided to create them. Equally, civil society does not come about because decision-makers or people in power say so. People are not part of a nation, ethnic or minority group because someone has authorized them to be; this is even more the case for (religious) belief − one of the most self-defining decisions for any person or community − regardless of its high public importance.
Human rights exist, even if they are insufficiently protected by law. Even when there is an insufficiency or a lack of recognition and support by the state or by politics, we can live as members of minority communities and sustain our culture and religion, and we can form civil society groups.
But why does it have to be this way? The reason for the Human Rights Committee’s existence is to ensure that the Hungarian parliament enacts laws that help people’s lives and make them easier − be they Hungarians, foreigners living in Hungary or ethnic Hungarians abroad. It is part of our job to monitor and examine the way these laws are implemented in everyday life.”
Prof. Dr. Máté Szabó, Commissioner for Fundamental Rights:
"The work of the Ombudsman serves the humanisation of legal and state institutions, the preservation of the human face of the ‘human machine’. The purpose of constructive criticism is not only to make human rights sound good to the citizens as an abstract idea, but rather to enable these rights to be experienced as a natural element of their everyday lives. The Ombudsman and his staff stand up for these rights, threatened as they are by social and economic crises, and they accept their role as critics and the rejection it may entail. Yet they must carry out their work on human rights in this spirit of criticism. This is not an easy task: finding possible solutions that can help both the effectiveness and humanisation of the state, and bring society and culture closer to the world of fundamental rights."
